Mapping cultural value through GIS–AHP: understanding the historic urban fabric of Dalian’s Zhongshan district

Rapid urbanisation in China has reshaped historic urban cores, placing modern heritage fabric under increasing redevelopment pressure. Focusing on Zhongshan District in Dalian, a historic port city shaped by layered Russian and Japanese planning legacies, this study develops an integrated GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework to assess cultural heritage value at the district scale. Archival research and systematic field surveys are used to translate qualitative heritage significance into spatially explicit, value-based evidence. The results reveal a clear spatial gradient of heritage value, with high-value clusters concentrated around Zhongshan Square and lower values extending toward peripheral redevelopment zones. While officially listed buildings remain relatively well protected, many unlisted yet socially meaningful structures are shown to be particularly vulnerable, highlighting limitations in existing top-down governance approaches. By operationalising the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach through a value-based GIS – AHP framework, this study demonstrates how heritage assessment can be integrated into everyday planning practice and offers transferable insights for rapidly transforming port cities in East Asia.